


Song Sung Blue

by Bunnywest



Series: Rabbit verse [19]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 20:52:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11654508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnywest/pseuds/Bunnywest
Summary: Sometimes, Peter has a bad day.Stiles takes care of him.





	Song Sung Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me in the night. Sometimes, the things Peter has done come back to haunt him.

Stiles wakes up, and nuzzles up to Peter as normal. Instead of the normal kiss in response, he’s met with the back of Peter’s head. He’s burrowed under the blankets, and his shoulders are tense.

Well, fuck.

Stiles slides out of bed and quietly calls work, telling them he won’t be in, he’s taking a personal day. He tells them not to count on him for tomorrow either. Then he slips into the kitchen and starts making chicken soup. He knows it’s a cliché, but it’s also damned effective for days like this. He puts on a soft jazz track, because he knows Peter can’t cope with silence when he’s like this, but he also knows that anything too much is likely to be met with a temper tantrum.

Simply put, Peter’s become the victim of a giant self-induced guilt trip.

 

* * *

 

 

It doesn’t happen often, maybe twice a year. The first time, Stiles had panicked and called Noah. “What the fuck do I do, Dad? He’s just lying in bed - he won’t talk to me, nothing”.

Noah had sighed, and told Stiles “Just be there, son. Keep him company. Get in the blankets with him. Hold him. Don’t try and tell him it will be all right. Try and feed him if you can, but just be patient. It’ll pass”.

Stiles knows about bad days. Sometimes what he did while he was possessed by the Nogitsune will wake him in the night, sweating with fear and terrified that it’s come back. So he’d heeded his Dad’s advice, and refused to let Peter chase him away with his snapping and snarling. And after two days of silence and brooding, and Stiles quietly being there, Peter had woken feeling slightly less desperate, and hugged him hard, and the third day and been spent in bed wrapped around each other, touching and scenting, as Peter came back to him slowly.

Peter can’t explain why it happens, and there’s no consistent trigger. He simply wakes up overwhelmed by his past, and can’t see any hope in his future. When Stiles needs to get out of his head, physical sensation until he’s overwhelmed is the way to achieve that. Peter though, can’t be so easily distracted.

He’s tried drinking to forget, and it’s not pretty. That time, Stiles had been left with a drunken, weepy, violent Alpha to deal with. It’s not an experiment he’s keen to repeat. So now, he has a routine. He makes the soup. He puts on the jazz. He runs the bath.

He pretends he doesn’t know Peter’s awake watching him, and he hums along quietly with the music. He walks over to the bed and runs his fingers gently down the nape of Peter’s neck. “Hey, Wolfman”, he says softly.

“Fuck off, Stiles”

“Nah, thought I’d spend the day in bed, care to join me?” Stiles asks, and he slides back under the blankets and wraps himself around his husband like a determined octopus.

He feels Peter relax marginally, even though he grumbles “Don’t know why you’re here. Better things to do than waste time on me”.

Stiles holds him, and soothes him, and starts to tell him stories. He tells him about how Scott used to tease him about crushing on Derek, but that he was far wide of the mark, that Stiles had always had a secret thing for Peter. He reminds him about how Mandy James and her boys bring them muffins every week, because Peter changed her life. He reminds him of what he did for Ami. And for Noah and Jordan. And for Stiles. And for Odin.

He goes through listing all the good things Peter has done, including stuff Peter doesn’t think he knows about. By the end of an hour, his voice is scratchy, but he can sense Peter’s listening. And he tells Peter “You can’t change the past, man, you can only move forwards”

It’s a familiar song and dance, one that he’s found to be effective. The next step in the dance is the one where Peter asks him why he bothers with him. And as always, Stiles’ reply is simple. “It’s because I love you, idiot.”

And then he drags him out of bed, on the excuse that he’s offending Stiles’ delicate nose, and pushes him into the bath. Peter’s body relaxes further as he soaks in the hot water, and Stiles doesn’t mention the tears he sees rolling down his face. He leaves Peter in the tub and goes to check on the soup. After an hour so, he goes back in, tops up the water so it’s warm again, and begins to wash his mate. He tilts his head back and rinses his hair, and gently traces his body with the wash cloth.

Once Peter’s clean, he wraps him in a giant fluffy towel that he’s warmed in the dryer. He dries him, cooing and shushing as Peter bitches and snarks, and dresses him even as he grizzles about it. Then he sits on the couch, pulls Peter in close to his side, and sits there stroking his hair as Peter dozes. He spoons soup into his mouth when he wakes. And they cuddle some more.

They spend the day there, Peter crying silently occasionally, Stiles murmuring nonsense in his ear. When darkness falls, Stiles moves them into the bed and holds Peter tightly.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Stiles awakes to soft kisses on his brow. Peter simply says “Thank you, rabbit”.

Stiles smiles, relieved that this time, it wasn’t so bad for his mate. Peter starts to talk, then, which he usually never does. “It was Laura’s birthday, and all I could think of was that she’s not here because of me.”

Oh. Stiles holds him tighter, and just listens.

“Once my mind started down that track, there was no stopping it. It was just a list of everyone I’d hurt, every filthy trick I’d played, and everything I’ve ever done to qualify me for the description of human garbage – and I’m not even human” Peter snorts. Stiles says nothing. “But it seems I can’t stay in a decent funk when someone’s reminding me that I’m not an asshole, not all the time anyway.”

And he kisses Stiles gently. “I’m going to have bad days sometimes rabbit, but I want you to know that what you do, it helps”.

 

 

 


End file.
